“Hey. I know you’re there. Show yourself, you pervert.”
“…”
No. Not me.
She’s staring straight at me, but there’s absolutely no way she means me.
I mean, this is Nether King Grandpa—Jikaku-san’s—past, right? A world made from his memories?
There’s no way they should be able to see me!
The beautiful woman who resembled Shion-san must have gotten the wrong idea. This is just a leading question. If I answer, I lose.
“What’s wrong, Executioner? Is there something up there?”
“There’s a stalker. A lecherous-looking man who resembles Jikaku.”
“Where? I don’t see anything.”
The saintly-looking beauty who resembled Mina-chan called out to the Executioner, who continued keeping a wary eye on the upper part of the cavern.
She was explaining that I was there, but apparently the Mina-lookalike couldn’t see me.
And hey, I’m not a stalker!
And “lecherous-looking” is pretty damn rude! It’s not like I’m watching them because I want to!
“Huh? Could it be a ghost? That’s scary…”
The Satsuki-lookalike cautiously joined in, staring nervously in my direction, but apparently she couldn’t see me either.
“Maybe you’ve sentenced so many people that you’ve attracted an evil spirit.”
“That would explain it. It certainly has an appearance identical to yours, so perhaps that is the case.”
“Wha—what did you say?! Are you saying I’ve got an evil-spirit face?!”
Jikaku-san suddenly went all Grrr! on her. I hate to say it, but that guy looks hopelessly stupid. Every single one of his reactions is so impulsive and childish. You could call it having the heart of a boy, I suppose.
…Hmm? Wait a second.
If Jikaku-san has an evil-spirit face…
Does that mean I have an evil-spirit face too, since I look like him?
Wha—what an incredibly rude woman!
Grrr!!
“Anyway. There’s no doubt that someone is definitely watching us.”
O-Okay…
I suppose I’ll just have to accept the fact that they’ve noticed my presence for now.
“If it looks like him, it’s probably a Buddha or something.”
“If it attacks, we can just fight back, so we might as well ignore it for now.”
“Ugh. Being secretly watched like that is kinda creepy.”
That word “creepy” really stabs deep into this middle-aged guy’s heart. It hurts. Could you take that back, Satsuki-chan lookalike—you beautiful girl?
“True. Even though we know we’re being watched, we can’t make a move right now. Let’s just all stay on our guard for the time being.”
“I’ll make the barrier a bit stronger when we sleep starting tonight.”
It’s a relief that they don’t seem able to make a move against me. And I have absolutely no intention of interfering, either. It would be a disaster if my meddling altered the past and changed the world we originally came from. Still, considering the terrible things they’ve been saying about me, I honestly feel like giving them a piece of my mind.
“Yaaawn… Well, I’m beat, so I’m gonna hit the sack. Good night, my honeys.”
That guy really does whatever he pleases, doesn’t he?
★★★
Just when I thought everyone had gone into their tents and fallen asleep, several hours suddenly passed. Apparently, whenever they weren’t doing anything, the memory world would automatically fast-forward.
Talk about a god’s-eye perspective. It feels like I’m watching some shady old VHS tape I recorded ages ago.
“All right, everyone! Are we ready? Then let’s get exploring again today! Let’s go!”
“He’s still watching us, that evil spirit…”
“Was he watching us the entire time we were resting? What a seriously dedicated pervert ghost.”
Dammit. They’re saying whatever the hell they want…
When I get back to reality, I’m definitely taking it out on Mina-chan and Shion-san!
“Ugh… I’m so sleepy… Isn’t it a little early to be leaving?”
I feel like Jikaku-san could stand to put a little more effort into this whole adventure. He’s way too laid-back. I’m starting to get irritated just watching him.
“We should be getting close to the deepest part by now, right?”
“Indeed. We’ve already gone beyond the fiftieth underground floor. There aren’t any dungeons deeper than that among those known to the Guild headquarters, so we really should be getting close.”
“We’re already out of food. If we stop encountering monsters that can be eaten, we’ll have no choice but to return immediately.”
Huh? So what I’m watching right now took place back when dungeons deeper than the fiftieth floor hadn’t been discovered yet.
These days, dungeons deeper than fifty floors are a dime a dozen. The Nether class dungeon is a hundred floors deep, after all.
Although…
Even that Nether-class dungeon is currently being diligently renovated down to the tenth floor by that airheaded Nether King Grandpa.
“I kinda want to go home already…”
“‘Shut up! Keep moving!’”
The women’s voices overlapped perfectly as they hurried Jikaku-san and the others along, forcing them to leave the campsite behind. They continued onward, heading deeper and deeper into the dungeon.
Then, once again, the scene before me suddenly changed.
Huh? Where is this?
There’s something majestic about this place.
The twisted trees lining the approach to the temple look ancient enough to make you feel their age. The air even seems like it would be crisp and pure.
Wait…
I feel like I’ve seen this place somewhere before.
Uh… where was it again…?
…Oh!
That’s right! I remember!
This is the deepest part of the Beginner Dungeon I explored when I first started out!
It looks really similar. You know, the place with that enormous temple! The place where I fought that gigantic statue of Rakshasa…
“KYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
“Guh…!!”
“W-What the hell is that little girl?! She’s way too strong!!”
The air split open, and three beautiful women suddenly appeared near the grounds of the temple that had been so peaceful just moments before. They’d all been full of energy earlier, but now they were covered in wounds, sprawled helplessly across the ground and unable to stand.
It was easy to imagine that they had just been fighting some overwhelmingly powerful enemy.
And then there was that word the beautiful woman who resembled Shion had used.
Little girl. I’d already figured out who that meant. The opponent they were fighting right now was probably…
“You’re pretty good, old man.”
“Loli Granny aren’t really my type. Guess I’ll have to get serious!”
The air split open once more. This time, Jikaku-san appeared completely unharmed, accompanied by a familiar-looking little girl. The two of them radiated an absolutely tremendous aura, and I was completely blown away.
“That’s a forbidden word, old man.”
“Oh, yeah? Then I’ll say it again! I said I absolutely hate self-deluded loli granny who pretend to be young! You damn old hag!”
Ah.
Yeah.
Jikaku-san is definitely dead.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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